A Lawman's Justice (Sweetwater Ranch Book 8) by Delores Fossen

off next. Then he reached for the zipper on his pants.
    That didn’t help her dry throat.
    Seth stopped, and as if suddenly remembering that he wasn’t alone, looked back at her. “Sorry.”
    Shelby tried to shrug to make it seem like no big deal. It was, though. Seeing a half-naked Seth only reminded her body that she wouldn’t mind seeing him completely naked.
    Wouldn’t mind more of those kisses, either.
    Thankfully, that set off some huge warning bells in her head, and she forced herself to tear her gaze from him. To give herself something else to do, she picked up a photo album from the coffee table and thumbed through it.
    It was a family album. Specifically, photos of Seth, Rosalie and Rayanne as children. In nearly all the shots Seth was riding a horse in what appeared to be various rodeo competitions.
    And there was Jewell, of course.
    In several photos she was standing next to a man in a wheelchair. He was the spitting image of Seth.
    “Rosalie brought that album with her when we came to the ranch,” Seth said. He came out of the bedroom wearing clean black pants. Zipped at that. No shirt, though he did have one and his badge in his hands. “Anything wrong?” he asked.
    She was gawking at him again but managed to shake her head. What the heck? She might as well just spill what Seth already figured she was thinking.
    “You know you tick all the boxes for ‘hot guy,’” Shelby said. “Even my mother noticed. Half the women in town are fantasizing about you. The other half are too young or old to fantasize.”
    The corner of his mouth lifted. “Is that why you kissed me, because you think I’m hot?”
    “Of course.” But then she rethought that. “Or maybe it’s because in addition to those hot-guy boxes, you’re a bona fide lifesaving hero.”
    He motioned to the badge that he clipped to his belt. “It’s part of the job.”
    Shelby motioned to his heart instead. “I think you would have saved my life even if you weren’t wearing that badge.”
    Seth only shrugged. “You know, you tick all the hot boxes, too.”
    Thankfully, she was still seated or that might have sent her into his arms. She was so easily swayed around him. Too easily.
    All right.
    It was time for her to put some mental distance between them. “Is that your father?” she asked, tapping one of the photos of the man in the wheelchair.
    He nodded, after several seconds of staring at her. “When I was just a baby, my mom and dad were mugged when they were at a cattle auction near San Antonio. My mother was killed, and the man shot my father, severing his spine.”
    “Sweet mercy.” Her breath stopped for a moment. As part of her investigation into Jewell, Shelby had done a background check on Seth, but she hadn’t delved into his childhood. “I’m so sorry.”
    “It was a long time ago.” True, but she still heard the emotions in his voice.
    “They caught the person who did this?” she asked.
    But she had to repeat that “sweet mercy” when Seth shook his head.
    Well, that explained why he’d become a lawman. He was out for justice. Justice that he probably knew he wouldn’t get for his parents, since the crime had happened over thirty years ago. Still, it was one of those wounds that would never heal.
    She knew a little about never-healing wounds herself.
    Shelby looked at a few more pictures, the snapshots giving her a little summary of his life. Despite his father being in a wheelchair, they appeared to be a happy family. Heck, even surly Rayanne was smiling in some of the photos.
    Then the shots changed.
    Seth’s father was no longer in any of the pictures. If she remembered correctly, he’d died when Seth had been twelve or so. The rest of the photos were of the ranch, horses and rodeo competitions.
    Shelby looked up at him. Finally, he was putting on his shirt. “So beneath the FBI suit, you’re really a cowboy.”
    “Was.
Am
,” Seth corrected. “I just bought the Bradley ranch not far from here. Once